Historical | Stacy Alesi's BookBitch.com™

THE LAST GREEN VALLEY by Mark Sullivan

May 24, 2021

From the publisher:

From the author of the #1 bestseller Beneath a Scarlet Sky comes a new historical novel inspired by one family’s incredible story of daring, survival, and triumph.

In late March 1944, as Stalin’s forces push into Ukraine, young Emil and Adeline Martel must make a terrible decision: Do they wait for the Soviet bear’s intrusion and risk being sent to Siberia? Or do they reluctantly follow the wolves—murderous Nazi officers who have pledged to protect “pure-blood” Germans?

The Martels are one of many families of German heritage whose ancestors have farmed in Ukraine for more than a century. But after already living under Stalin’s horrifying regime, Emil and Adeline decide they must run in retreat from their land with the wolves they despise to escape the Soviets and go in search of freedom.

Caught between two warring forces and overcoming horrific trials to pursue their hope of immigrating to the West, the Martels’ story is a brutal, complex, and ultimately triumphant tale that illuminates the extraordinary power of love, faith, and one family’s incredible will to survive and see their dreams realized.

In an afterward to this book, Mark Sullivan indicates that it is an account of the vicissitudes of a real family living through one the most horrific periods to ever have faced human beings. The novel is more than a compelling read; it is an adventure into emotion that crosses between hope and despair bringing to life the resiliency of an extraordinary family.

The Martels are people with roots in Germany that have emigrated into the Ukraine in order to enjoy a better life. Making a life there the transplanted colony suddenly becomes caught up in war when Germany invades Russia during World War II.

The slaughter of both the Russian and German armies at the battle for Stalingrad causes the Germanic residents of the Ukraine to flee the Russian army which goes after the Wehrmacht in order to destroy them. The Germans tell the transplants to pack up and leave with them to try and make it back to Germany before Stalin, the Russian leader moves his army to slaughter them. The Wehrmacht offers protection and food during the escape. Emil and Adeline Martel and their two sons are among the group leaving their home to escape with their lives. It is their story that Mark Sullivan celebrates. The fleeing group are subjected to being caught up with the running battles of both armies. They narrowly escape being killed by tanks of both armies fighting each other and not looking to see if civilians are in the way of their shells.

The Martels are strengthened by a vision they hold of coming at last to live in a beautiful Green valley where they can enjoy peace and the tranquility of life together and with their family. The events of their travel could normally crush the spirit of anyone but in a memorable accounting of what befalls them Mark Sullivan does an excellent job of painting a picture of the triumph of the human spirit. The reader will not be able to lay down the book until finished and know that they have read a superb story and an extremely well told one that will stay with them for a long time.

5/2021 Paul Lane

THE LAST GREEN VALLEY by Mark Sullivan. Lake Union Publishing (May 4, 2021). ISBN: 978-1503958746. 457 pages.

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BASIL’S WAR by Stephen Hunter

May 22, 2021

A WWII Spy Thriller

From the publisher:

A British spy goes behind enemy lines to crack a secret code in this “highly entertaining World War II espionage thriller” (Seattle Times).

Basil St. Florian is an accomplished agent in the British Army, tasked with dozens of dangerous missions for crown and country across the globe. But his current mission, going undercover in Nazi-occupied France during World War II, might be his toughest assignment yet. He will be searching for an ecclesiastic manuscript that doesn’t officially exist, one that genius professor Alan Turing believes may hold the key to a code that could prevent the death of millions and possibly even end the war.

St. Florian isn’t the classic British special agent with a stiff upper lip―he is a swashbuckling, whisky-drinking cynic and thrill-seeker who resents having to leave Vivien Leigh’s bed to set out on his crucial mission. Despite these proclivities, though, Basil’s Army superiors know he’s the best man for the job, carrying out his espionage with enough charm and quick wit to make any of his subjects lower their guards.

Action-packed and bursting with WWII-era intrigue (much of which has basis in fact), Basil’s War is a classic espionage thriller from Pulitzer Prize-winning critic, essayist, and bestselling novelist Stephen Hunter.

Stephen Hunter is a successful author with a longtime background in the literary world. His main thrust are books involving the military art of sniping. He is gifted with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of weaponry which he has used to bring his novels several steps above other books about sniping and snipers.

This current book is a change in focus and involves the exploits of Basil St Florian in action as a spy during World War II. Basil is in the language of another day a “rake” for his many encounters with women. He is bold, daring and has a great sense of humor. He has traveled several times from his home in England into France, a country conquered by the Nazi war machine and an area that might be used as a springboard for action against Britian. He has successfully completed several missions and we meet him as he begins another.

In certain situations books are used as keys for secret codes. That is the message to be sent is tied to a mutually known book and the words are represented by location designations used by both parties. The difficulty level is very high since the same book must be used by both senders and receivers in order to decode the message. In his latest mission Basil must travel into enemy territory find a scroll written several hundred years ago, photograph certain portions and bring these photos back in order to be used to convince Russian dictator Joseph Stalin to shift a military position in order to avoid a massacre of his soldiers.

In the course of the mission Basil meets Alan Turing, a man that led a group of mathematicians in discovering the key to the Nazi codes used in their transmission of orders. Turing and his group actually lived and worked on breaking codes during WWII. While the codes sought by Basil are not fact, the touch of adding Turing to the plot is a good one and helps validate the action.

The almost blasé approach Hunter takes brings down the quality of the action described and I felt leaves the reader with a “hey what happened” feeling. If it is a book by Stephen Hunter I would pick up his next novel, but possibly return to awaiting others featuring the sniping format if Basil does not pick up the pace.

5/2021 Paul Lane

BASIL’S WAR by Stephen Hunter. Mysterious Press (May 4, 2021). ISBN: 978-1613162248. 288 pages.

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IN TIMES OF RAIN AND WAR by Camron Wright

May 16, 2021

From the publisher:

During World War II, an American soldier encounters a German woman living a secret life in bomb-blighted London.

In September of 1940, during the Blitz in London, Audrey Stocking is blending in with other civilians who are trying to survive the nightly bombings, but she has a secret. She’s not British; she’s German. Her fake passport and nearly perfect English allow her to blend in as she works hard to help evacuate British children into the countryside.

Audrey longs to reunite with her family in Hamburg, but her double life, the bombings, and the watchful British Military Intelligence have forced her to stay put. And then there are the paralyzing nightmares . . .

Lieutenant Wesley Bowers, an American soldier training with London’s Bomb Disposal Company 5, meets Audrey when an air raid leaves an unexploded bomb on the floor of her flat. She is attractive, intelligent, and compassionate, and there’s an immediate connection between them.

As they get to know each other, Wesley realizes Audrey is the one bright spot amid the war’s unending bleakness and constant threat of death. But will he still feel the same if he discovers the secrets she is hiding? Secrets even Audrey is unaware of?

In Times of Rain and War is a gripping and heartbreakingly beautiful story about the strength and resilience of the human heart and spirit, reminding us there is always hope in hard times.

This novel is a beautifully written story of love and war. Like most stories about war, it is a treatise of anti-war dialogue but does go quite a bit beyond that.

Lt. Wesley Bowers is an American that journeys to England in 1940, prior to the U.S. entering WWII. He joins a bomb disposal unit working in London and quickly learns that life expectancy for men that do the kind of work that he gets involved in is very low; that the average for these people is 10 weeks. He also joins the BDU (Bomb Disposal Unit) at a point that the Blitz has begun targeting London as the main point of the German air force’s raids.

Wes struggles to survive the horror he is involved in at the same time that he finds that the men attached to his unit have become like family to him with the obvious commonality of facing death on a constant basis due to the work they do.

Audrey Stocking is a young girl that has entered England illegally sent out from her home in Germany by her father who has arranged for her to flee what he felt was the coming horror of the Nazi party. The family was Jewish with all the downside that would create for them.

Audrey traveled to Switzerland with her aunt and from there the two women traveled to England. In order to make a living both work for a group that specializes in transporting children from London to temporary homes in the north of England which are beyond the war zone. Audrey’s problem beyond the basic one of being in the county illegally is that she suffers from flashbacks and nightmares that she cannot come to grips with.

Wes has a fiancée in the US, but when he and Audrey meet it generates a mutual attraction that quickly gives way to love. The story of a love that helps both people transcend the daily horror they live in is an extremely well done narrative with results that leave the reader with an emotional feeling not often encountered in a novel. Certainly instilling a desire to read future books by Wright and follow through on that.

5/2021 Paul Lane

IN TIMES OF RAIN AND WAR by Camron Wright. Shadow Mountain (April 6, 2021). ISBN: 978-1629728544. 312 pages.

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THE HEIRESS HUNT by Joanna Shupe

May 12, 2021

Fifth Avenue Rebels, Book 1

From the publisher:

“Friends-to-lovers romance at its finest!” – Library Journal (Starred Review)

High society reprobate.
An unconventional heiress.
Childhood friends.

Is it too late…
Knickerbocker scoundrel Harrison Archer returns to New York to discover that his deceased father has bankrupted his estranged family. To save them from ruin, he’s forced to quickly find and marry an heiress. For a matchmaker, Harrison turns to the one woman he wishes he could marry: his childhood friend and true love, Maddie, who once broke his heart and is now engaged to a duke.

For true love?
When her best friend Harrison left for Paris without a word, Maddie Webster took refuge in her infatuation with tennis. Now Harrison is back and needs her help in finding a bride. Begrudgingly, Maddie arranges a house party in Newport with a guest list of eligible heiresses. But watching Harrison flirt with potential brides is more than she can bear.

When Harrison and Maddie reunite, the passion between them ignites. But with their marriages to others looming, time is running out. Is their fate inescapable . . .or can love set them free?

I really enjoy reading books set in early New York City; it sort of brings the history I learned in school to life. Plus sex! This is a friends to lovers romance, which means our main characters were childhood friends, now all grown up. Maddie has landed the catch of the season, a Duke in desperate need of a fortune. Luckily, Maddie’s family has the money.

Harrison left NY for Europe and made a fortune there after a major falling out with his family. Now he’s back in NYC, where his estranged family demands he look for a wife with a large dowry. While Harrison was getting rich, his family was losing everything.

Somehow he convinces Maddie to host him for a weekend at her Newport estate, and invite eligible women for him to meet. Unfortunately, the only woman for Harrison is Maddie, but it takes a while for them to move past all their baggage.

This is the first book of a new series, so there were a lot of characters introduced who will probably have their own books later. I loved that Maddie was a professional tennis player, that was an interesting twist. It is an enjoyable read, although it doesn’t move as fast as Shupe’s books generally do.

5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch™

THE HEIRESS HUNT by Joanna Shupe. Avon (March 9, 2021). ISBN 978-0063045040. 400 pages.

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LEVI’S WAR by Julie Thomas

May 11, 2021

From the publisher:

A story of courage and bravery from a Jew behind enemy lines during the Second World War.

How many secrets can one family hold?

Levi Horowitz isn’t a natural-born soldier. But in November 1938, Berlin is a volatile place for a Jew, and the talented young musician secures passage to Switzerland. Instead, Levi is taken to a Danish border checkpoint and from then on his war becomes secret, even from those he loves best.

In 2017, a recording emerges, showing Levi in 1945 and revealing a story in equal parts shocking and heroic. It is a journey that leads him face-to-face with Hitler, and into a position to change the final outcome of the war.

Levi’s War follows on from the enthralling historical novels The Keeper of Secrets and Rachel’s Legacy, this time tracing the story of the eldest Horowitz son. Whether you’re discovering Julie Thomas’s books for the first time, or making a return visit to the saga of the Horowitz family, Levi’s War will leave you utterly breathless.

This is the third and final novel in the author’s planned trilogy about the Horowitz family and events they took part in during World War II. I have not read the first two books so that certain described situations mentioned in this book are not familiar to me. While it would have helped overall understanding I did not lose complete track of events and could keep up with the flow of this book.

Levi is a Jewish boy born into a well to do banking family living in Berlin, Germany enjoying life until the horror of Adolf Hitler and his cronies seized power and turned the country into a police state looking to conquer the world. Levi’s father saw what was probably going to happen and sent Levi to live and work in England. He was supposed to establish a base in order to bring over all his family but fate threw him a curve and he began life as a spy thanks to the British government interceding with him, training him as a soldier, and sending him back into Germany to spy on Nazi activities for the allies.

Levi returns and gets a position with a Nazi unit to both support himself and have access to information needed by his sponsors. As a young man Levi had developed a love for and a talent for music playing at a concert hall level. This skill helps him in working at his spy craft gaining entrance to homes of the very well connected including the very top: – Hitler himself. Themes running through the novel are Levi’s having to apologize for his Jewishness and also to have to hide the fact that he is gay in a country which makes homosexuality a crime even to killing the person for showing a same sex love for another human being.

While Thomas shows the amount of research she undertook to tell this story I fault her on jumping helter-skelter from topic and circumstance to something else. There were a few situations where the reader could very easily have lost continuity and interest making it very far from an all nighter. Levi’s constant fixing on his homosexuality is overdone and doesn’t at all help maintain the reader’s interest.

5/2021 Paul Lane

LEVI’S WAR by Julie Thomas. HarperCollins (April 20, 2021). ISBN: 978-1460759622. 320 pages.

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THE GARDEN OF ANGELS by David Hewson

May 8, 2021

From the publisher:

At his beloved Nonno Paolo’s deathbed, fifteen-year-old Nico receives a gift that will change his life forever: a yellowing manuscript which tells the haunting, twisty tale of what really happened to his grandfather in Nazi-occupied Venice in 1943.

The Palazzo Colombina is home to the Uccello family: three generations of men, trapped together in the dusty palace on Venice’s Grand Canal. Awkward fifteen-year-old Nico. His distant, business-focused father. And his beloved grandfather, Paolo. Paolo is dying. But before he passes, he has secrets he’s waited his whole life to share.

When a Jewish classmate is attacked by bullies, Nico just watches – earning him a week’s suspension and a typed, yellowing manuscript from his frail Nonno Paolo. A history lesson, his grandfather says. A secret he must keep from his father. A tale of blood and madness . . .

Nico is transported back to the Venice of 1943, an occupied city seething under its Nazi overlords, and to the defining moment of his grandfather’s life: when Paolo’s support for a murdered Jewish woman brings him into the sights of the city’s underground resistance. Hooked and unsettled, Nico can’t stop reading – but he soon wonders if he ever knew his beloved grandfather at all.

Italy entered World War II on the side of Germany, no doubt convinced by Mussolini, the Italian dictator that it would be best to ally themselves with Hitler. The love affair between the two did not last through the entire war and while remnants of the Italian army still served with German troops, Hitler sent an army of occupation to Italy to ensure that the country stayed loyal.

Hewson’s book is set in the city of Venice during the Nazi occupation and does an exemplary job of depicting the horrors inflicted by the Germans on the civilian population.

Nonno Paolo is a man that lived through the occupation and has kept his ordeals to himself for many years. The novel opens when Nonno is on his deathbed some fifty plus years after the end of the occupation. He calls his grandson to his side and indicates that he wants to communicate something that must remain between the two and not told to the boy’s father.

Nicco, the grandson, is asked to read a series of manuscripts prepared by his grandfather. What is contained in these writings will be left to Nicco to interpret for himself although his grandfather would like to discuss them with him and get his ideas.

The family was engaged in building a business involving the highly skilled weaving of fabrics centered in Venice when the Nazis began their occupation. Hitler’s policies of anti Jewish, Gypsy and Homo sexual groups is adopted by Mussolini and incorporated into a code similar to the Nurenberg laws existing in Germany. A conundrum is placed upon the family when they are asked to shelter a Jewish brother and sister that had been in the Italian resistance and ambushed a group of Germany troops. Sheltering such fugitives could mean death to the family caught sheltering them. When it was explained that the sheltering would be only a little while it was decided to go ahead and offer a short term haven for the two.

In order to help out while there the brother decides to learn how to weave and aid on a project that would bring in some much needed revenue. Nonno and the brother become friends and close during the activity while the sister thinks only of action against the Nazis. Events taking place and the frights endured by all involved are carefully delineated and make for a uniquely rewarding story of another time and the circumstances peculiar to the period. The reader will find him or herself unable to put the book down and commiserating with the participants in the novel. A very rewarding read culminating in an unexpected but logical ending.

5/2021 Paul Lane

THE GARDEN OF ANGELS by David Hewson. Severn House Publishers (April 6, 2021). ISBN: 978-1250257208. 304 pages.

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A WICKED BARGAIN FOR THE DUKE by Megan Frampton

May 2, 2021

Hazards of Dukes, Book 3

From the publisher:

The author of the “sparkling” and “steamy” (Entertainment Weekly) Never Kiss a Duke returns with the delightful third book in the Hazards of Dukes series as a rigid duke enters into marriage with a rebellious lady.

Thaddeus, the new Duke of Hasford, holds his new title reluctantly, but his sense of duty is strong. Task number one: find a wife and secure an heir. He thinks he’s found the perfect choice in Lady Jane Capel—until her sister Lavinia bursts onto the scene. Vivacious, rebellious, and strikingly beautiful, Lavinia is determined to keep him away from her shy, sweet sister. And she’s also determined not to think so much about his broad chest and strong thighs.

When Lady Lavinia and Thaddeus end up in the most compromising position, witnessed by Lavinia’s mother and nearly everyone at a party, they’re forced to get married to protect their reputations. With no love between them, but with an heir to conceive, they strike a bargain in bed. Only Lavinia demands passion, and Thaddeus complies, with both of them realizing this marriage of convenience may turn into much more…

The forced marriage is a popular trope in historical romances, especially among Dukes. They have to do the right thing, and Thaddeus knows he has no way out of it. While Lavinia realizes she is physically attracted to the Duke, he just finds her loud and too flamboyant to be a duchess, but he is also physically attracted to her. While her sister Jane might have been more what he was looking for, Lavinia wasn’t going to let that happen anyway. And turns out she was right.

There is a lot of passion between Lavinia and Thaddeus, but shockingly for any romance book, the sex isn’t perfect right out of the gate. Lavinia is a bit disappointed but thinks she can get what she wants by asking for it. So she does. Thaddeus is actually thrilled that she cares enough to ask for what she needs, and their sex life goes off like fireworks once he starts listening.

This was a very sexy book, but there are also some laughs along the way. Lavinia and Thaddeus have a lot of hurdles to overcome to get to their happily ever after, and the journey is a real page turner. If you like fun, sexy romances, don’t miss this one!

5/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

A WICKED BARGAIN FOR THE DUKE by Megan Frampton. Avon (April 27, 2021). ISBN: 978-0063023086. 400 pages.

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THE KITCHEN FRONT by Jennifer Ryan

April 30, 2021

From the publisher:

From the bestselling author of The Chilbury Ladies’ Choir comes an unforgettable novel of a BBC-sponsored wartime cooking competition and the four women who enter for a chance to better their lives.

Two years into World War II, Britain is feeling her losses: The Nazis have won battles, the Blitz has destroyed cities, and U-boats have cut off the supply of food. In an effort to help housewives with food rationing, a BBC radio program called The Kitchen Front is holding a cooking contest—and the grand prize is a job as the program’s first-ever female co-host. For four very different women, winning the competition would present a crucial chance to change their lives.

For a young widow, it’s a chance to pay off her husband’s debts and keep a roof over her children’s heads. For a kitchen maid, it’s a chance to leave servitude and find freedom. For a lady of the manor, it’s a chance to escape her wealthy husband’s increasingly hostile behavior. And for a trained chef, it’s a chance to challenge the men at the top of her profession.

These four women are giving the competition their all—even if that sometimes means bending the rules. But with so much at stake, will the contest that aims to bring the community together only serve to break it apart?

This book is a heartwarming story about four women living in a small village a couple of years into World War II. The main character is Audrey Landon, a young woman widowed by the was and left with three small boys. After inheriting her family home, at least she has a roof over their head, crumbling though it is.

Audrey’s estranged sister, Lady Gwendoline Strickland, likes lording it over everyone in town. Always resentful of Audrey and how their mother favored her down to leaving her the house, Gwendoline deigns to loan Audrey some money so she can fix things up a bit. Gwendoline seems to have everything, a wealthy, powerful husband, a large estate, and some power herself – she is in charge of billeting displaced people into homes in the neighborhood. Including her sister’s home, where she sends a pregnant woman, Zelda Dupont.

Zelda is a chef who had an affair with her boss, but he had no interest in continuing it. He was a con man and a player, but she has to deal with the realities of her life. She tries hiding her pregnancy for as long as she can as she knows she will lose her job as head chef of the mess at the local factory, also owned by Strickland.

Nell is the young kitchen maid at the Strickland home, working under Mrs. Quince, the cook. Nell is gifted in the kitchen and Mrs. Quince becomes a mother figure to her. Orphaned at a young age, Nell grew up in an orphanage until she was sent to work at the estate.

These four women all end up competing in a cooking contest put on by the BBC (the forerunner of the Great British Bakeoff!) There was a real radio program called The Kitchen Front, and in this story the program sponsors a contest to get a professional cook to help out. The goal of the show is to help the housewives who are all struggling with rations, severe food shortages, and black market food. The radio show provides recipes and tips, like using all the vegetable scraps to make soup, and promoting canned foods like SPAM and sardines.

Audrey is more housewife than pro, but she’s been supporting her family by baking pies and things and selling them to local businesses. She also has a kitchen farm outside her door and has laying chickens, so is much better off than many others.

The competition between the women doesn’t seem very fierce, other than Lady Gwendoline’s husband is pushing her to win by any means possible. There is something going on in that marriage and it isn’t good.

Eventually, the women form friendships and as the war goes on, they find struggling together is much better than struggling alone. These characters were all likeable, even Lady Gwendoline eventually shows a more human side. The food history (and recipes) are fascinating, even if I wouldn’t make any of them. This was a different look at WWII from the perspective of England’s housewives, and a very interesting, compelling read. If you like historical fiction and food fiction, then this is your book; it certainly was mine.

4/2021 Stacy Alesi, AKA the BookBitch

THE KITCHEN FRONT by Jennifer Ryan. Ballantine Books (February 23, 2021). ISBN: 978-0593158807. 416 pages.

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THE EAGLE AND THE VIPER by Loren D. Estleman

April 26, 2021

From the publisher:

Part high-octane suspense, part dire warning, The Eagle and the Viper frommultiple-winning novelist Loren D. Estleman reveals how close our world came―at the dawn of a promising new century―to total war.

It’s a time of improvised explosive devices, terrorist training camps, international assassins, and war on civilians. It’s Christmas Eve, 1800.

This much is history: On Christmas Eve, 1800, an “infernal machine” exploded in one of the busiest streets in Paris, France, destroying buildings and killing innocent civilians. It wasn’t the first attempt on the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul of the newly minted Republic of France.

This much is exclusive to our story: Upon the failure of the Christmas Eve plot, the conspiracy takes a new and more diabolical turn.

Posterity knows what became of Napoleon: He led France into a series of military adventures that ended in his defeat, followed by decades of peace. But this future hung on a precarious thread. One man can make history; another can change it.

An extremely well researched book based on a little-known event in the life of Napoleon Bonaparte. The man had recently been elected as First Consul of France during the latter period of the revolution. The threat of the guillotine was still prevalent in a country that was engrossed in attempting to wipe out all traces of royalty without any clear idea of what form of government should eventually prevail. What was termed an “infernal machine,” a huge explosion, was set off on one of the busiest streets in Paris. It was exploded on Christmas Eve 1800 and construed to be an attempt to assassinate Napoleon.

Estleman describes the France of the moment, a virtual police state with the head Policeman able to assume complete power over the nation indicating that he does so in his role dictated by The First Consul for the good of the country. The author also postulates a professional assassin termed “The Viper” and hired by members of the government to kill Napoleon. The Viper’s movements to infiltrate the country and complete his mission to kill The First Consul are outlined in the novel. There was no indication of such an individual actually existing at that time, but the author presents a very readable novel detailing seizure of power and blame accruing to many places with blame on the assassination attempt. A forward does indicate that Estleman might be using his book as a vehicle to alert people to the damage that could be done if the truth is hidden and falsehoods take its place. The act is character assassination and certainly might be a weapon used in changing the image of person or persons that are deemed to be hindering the paths of others from their goals.

4/2021 Paul Lane

THE EAGLE AND THE VIPER by Loren D. Estleman. Thomas & Mercer (March 1, 2021). ISBN: 978-1542023863. 336 pages.

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THE GATES OF ATHENS by Conn Iggulden

April 17, 2021

From the publisher:

Evoking two of the most famous battles of the Ancient World—the Battle of Marathon and the Last Stand at Thermopylae—The Gates of Athens is a bravura piece of storytelling by a well acclaimed master of the historical adventure novel.

In the new epic historical novel by New York Times bestselling author Conn Iggulden, in ancient Greece an army of slaves gathers on the plains of Marathon . . .

Under Darius the Great, King of Kings, the mighty Persian army—swollen by 10,000 warriors known as The Immortals—have come to subjugate the Greeks. In their path, vastly outnumbered, stands an army of freeborn Athenians. Among them is a clever, fearsome, and cunning soldier-statesman, Xanthippus. Against all odds, the Athenians emerge victorious.

Yet people soon forget that freedom is bought with blood.

Ten years later, Xanthippus watches helplessly as Athens succumbs to the bitter politics of factionalism. Traitors and exiles abound. Trust is at a low ebb when the Persians cross the Hellespont in ever greater numbers in their second attempt to raze Athens to the ground.

Facing overwhelming forces by land and sea, the Athenians call on their Spartan allies for assistance—to delay the Persians at the treacherous pass of Thermopylae . . .

The current book by Iggulden is another of his well written excursions into novelized history. His extensive research into the period covered is delineated in an afterward in which he discusses the principal persona and events that actually took part in the era covered. The events took place in Greece and Persia during the period between the battle at Marathon and the stand of King Leonidas at the pass known as Thermopylae in 480 BC.

The opening of the book is at the battle at Marathon. King Darius of Persia led a huge army into Greece intending to conquer and rule over the collection of city states that encompassed the Hellenic world of the day. The Persian army included what was considered the finest group of soldiers existing in the known world. They were known as the immortals and considered invincible in battle.

A great leader from Athens named Xanthippus led the Greeks in achieving a victory over the Persians. The author attributes the win to the spirit of Athenians who were in process of forming one of the first democracies in the world. The laws of the city were formulated to ensure that all citizens would have an equal voice in their government and allowed to vote in situations calling for a majority opinion. No noble or other high ranked individual would have any more say than the poorest of the citizens in their own government. There were slaves who of course had no say in government but all citizens regardless of economic class did vote.

After the victory at Marathon, Athens did slip into a period of political factionalism which caused divisions in the city. Fate intervened again when Xerxes the son of Darius began attempting to do what his father had failed in doing. He led a huge army and a gigantic navy into Greece with the objective of finally taking over the country just ten years after Marathon. Opposition to the Persian advances focused on the Athenian navy attempting to stop the Persian fleet. On land a small force of Spartans and willing allies led by their war king Leonidas held off the Persian forces at Thermopylae allowing the remainder of the Spartan army and other soldiers to join the war.

Xanthippus is again the man that is the guiding light of the Greek resistance. The author touches on his private life and problems in his marriage but leaves the fact that he was the father of Pericles who later became one of the most influential men in Athens. He was termed by one of his contemporaries as the “First Citizen of Athens.” That surely will become part of Iggulden’s next venture into early Greek democracy.

4/2021 Paul Lane

THE GATES OF ATHENS by Conn Iggulden. Pegasus Books (January 5, 2021). ISBN: 978-1643136660. 464 pages.